Step 12: Vader's belt and shoulder pieces, and face

Step 13: Vader's helmet

Darth Vader's helmet was made with cardboard, various glues, wood filler, and paint. If you're interested in making one, there is a pattern of the mai...

Make your own action figures!

When I was about 11 years old, I wanted some Ninja Turtle toys. Since my parents wouldn't buy me any, I decided to make my own. I made up the pattern for the turtle bodies, and my Mom showed me how to work the sewing machine. They were the first things I ever sewed.

The finished turtles looked like green gingerbread men with lumpy green backpacks, but I thought they were awesome. Their respective purple, blue, orange, and red masks and armbands were made of felt that was hot glued in place, and they each had their own custom-made weapons.

As a kid I was quite pleased with myself, and I've been sewing and making stuff ever since.

I decided to make an updated version of my original homemade Ninja Turtle action figures for my own kids to enjoy. I also used the same body pattern to make a little Darth Vader figure as well.

The turtle design should offer some challenges, but still be simple enough for beginning sewers to complete.

The Darth Vader figure was more of a challenge--especially his helmet. I had to go Boba Fett-style on it, although in tiny scale. His lightsaber handle detaches from the light-beam (you know, for when he's not engaging in combat).

I used fleece for the bodies and heads, and some cotton scraps for Vader's cloaks.

For Vader's helmet, belt, and shoulder pieces, I used bits of thin, single-ply cardboard to build up each piece. If you examine the photos carefully, you can see what the pieces were made of, and how they went together. I used regular white glue to glue them together. I do not have a pattern for any of these parts, as they were all made through trial and error.

I might not have stated it clear enough... that main piece that I've included in the PDF is all I have to offer. The rest will have to be done on your own. It kind of sucks, but there was so much trial and error involved that I wasn't able to produce patterns for the entire thing. Since the helmet is basically a sculpture, duplicating it on your own will require a good eye, patience, and a lot of determination.

I felt the most useful thing I could do was share the piece that I started with, and at least get people headed in the right direction.

wow great instructable......i made one, however i did not have a sewing machine and had to do it by hand.it turned out good with a purple body and a blue mask and a jedi sord of coat.......i wish i had a camera so i could post a pic

The buttons are just little tiny pieces of cardboard glued on to the bigger piece of cardboard with white glue. I was kind of scared off by these little details at first, but they weren't near as hard as the appear. I spray painted all the pieces black, and then added details with enamel model paint.

The third page of the "vader cloaks and helmet" PDF is the pattern for the lower half of Darth Vader's helmet. This pattern is for the piece shown in the second and third photos in step 13. You will need to use stiff, single-ply cardboard. I don't have any additional drawn out plans for completing the helmet. I had to sculpt, shape, and continually modify the helmet through trial and error along the way to get the results shown. To duplicate it, you will need to do quite a bit of sculpting and eyeballing on your own. The pattern for that main helmet piece should at least get you going in the right direction. Good luck!